The Role of Founding Values and Principles in Constitutional and Statutory Interpretation: Lessons for Zimbabwe

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 31-58
Author(s):  
Admark Moyo ◽  
Basutu S Makwaiba
Keyword(s):  
Common Law ◽  
Customary Law ◽  
Statutory Interpretation ◽  
Philosophical Basis ◽  
A Value ◽  
Legal Texts ◽  
The Common ◽  
Constitutional Analysis

This article explores the role of constitutional values and principles in statutory and constitutional analysis. Given that the exact meaning of these values and principles remains largely unexplored, the article starts by explaining the differences between these terms and argues that these differences are not important for purposes of determining the role of values and principles in the interpretation of legal texts. In addition, the article examines the meaning and scope of the teleological theory of interpretation which forms the philosophical basis of a value-laden approach to constitutional and statutory analysis. More importantly, the article proceeds to unpack the letter and reach of the constitutional provisions that explicitly require courts to pay due regard to values and principles when interpreting any part of the Declaration of Rights. Towards the end, the article demonstrates the role of values in both the interpretation of enactments and the development of the common law or customary law.

Legal Pluralism, Gender Equality, and Parity of Participation: Constitutional Issues Concerning Customary Law in Liberia

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan H. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Gender Inequality ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Legal Pluralism ◽  
Constitutional Reform ◽  
Customary Law ◽  
Legal Limits ◽  
The Common ◽  
Traditional Communities

This chapter examines the practice of customary law in Liberia and how it contributes to gender inequality. The familiar menu of constitutional tools to protect equality has often failed, both because external legal limits on customary law are inaccessible to women in traditional communities and because they put those women in the position of opposing their own communities. The only sustainable solution is to empower women to reshape their own customary law. This requires rethinking culture and customary law at three levels: first, we must view culture as an evolving process to which all members contribute; second, we must view customary law as an evolving part of the common law that interacts with state law; and third, we must enhance ‘participatory parity’ for women. The chapter concludes with suggestions for constitutional reform in Liberia to promote the role of women as norm creators.

The Basic Context of Civil Law

2019 ◽  
pp. 359-516
Author(s):  
Uwe Kischel
Keyword(s):  
Unique Feature ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Civil Law ◽  
Everyday Practice ◽  
Historical Evolution ◽  
Statutory Interpretation ◽  
The Common ◽  
Typical Object ◽  
The Way

This chapter looks at civil law. Civil law is the counterpart and the typical object of comparison to the common law. The distinction between these two legal families is one of the few on which comparative lawyers largely agree. In highly simplified descriptions found mostly in older texts, the unique feature of civil law is often identified as legal codification, especially of private law. The main aspects of this legal mindset are the doctrine of legal sources, the systematization of law, the method of statutory interpretation, and the role of legal authorities. All of these things influence the way in which law is applied in everyday practice and are the products of a specific historical evolution. The fundamental character of civil law can only be understood when the interplay among all these factors is considered.

Common Law Constitutionalism

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
William E. Nelson
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Legal Profession ◽  
Legal Institutions ◽  
Law System ◽  
The Common ◽  
Common Law System

This chapter shows how common law pleading, the use of common law vocabulary, and substantive common law rules lay at the foundation of every colony’s law by the middle of the eighteenth century. There is some explanation of how this common law system functioned in practice. The chapter then discusses why colonials looked upon the common law as a repository of liberty. It also discusses in detail the development of the legal profession individually in each of the thirteen colonies. Finally, the chapter ends with a discussion of the role of legislation. It shows that, although legislation had played an important role in the development of law and legal institutions in the seventeenth century, eighteenth-century Americans were suspicious of legislation, with the result that the output of pre-Revolutionary legislatures was minimal.

scholarly journals ROLE OF FICTIONS IN REGULATION OF PROPERTY RELATIONS IN THE MEDIEVAL ENGLISH LAW

2016 ◽  
pp. 0-0
Author(s):  
Роман Рыбаков ◽  
Roman Rybakov
Keyword(s):  
Common Law ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Historical Method ◽  
Property Relations ◽  
Legal Method ◽  
The Common ◽  
Legal Fictions ◽  
Interpretation Method

The article is devoted to legal fictions in regulating property relations in the English medieval common law (XIII—XVII centuries). Fictions are explained as features influencing the development of law, means of expansion of courts’ jurisdiction and mechanisms of the development of remedies protecting property relations. The article focuses on the role of fiction during the appellate review stage. Relevant case law is analyzed in this article. In this research the author uses the following set of methods of scientific cognition: dialectical method, historical method as well as special scientific research methods, such as technical legal method, comparative law method, formal legal method and legal interpretation method. This research results in better understanding of the role of fictions during the appellate review stage and provides analysis of differences between legal fictions used in the medieval civil law and the common law. In conclusion, the author suggests a classification of legal fictions’ functions in the medieval English common law.

scholarly journals Roles of the Courts in New Zealand in Giving Effect to International Human Rights - with Some History

1999 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth J Keith
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Common Law ◽  
General Effect ◽  
International Affairs ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Right ◽  
Domestic Law

The Right Honourable Sir Kenneth Keith was the fourth speaker at the NZ Institute of International Affairs Seminar. In this article he describes and reflects upon the role of courts and judges in relation to the advancement of human rights, an issue covered in K J Keith (ed) Essays on Human Rights (Sweet and Maxwell, Wellington, 1968). The article is divided into two parts. The first part discusses international lawmakers attempting to protect individual groups of people from 1648 to 1948, including religious minorities and foreign traders, slaves, aboriginal natives, victims of armed conflict, and workers. The second part discusses how from 1945 to 1948, there was a shift in international law to universal protection. The author notes that while treaties are not part of domestic law, they may have a constitutional role, be relevant in determining the common law, give content to the words of a statute, help interpret legislation which is in line with a treaty, help interpret legislation which is designed to give general effect to a treaty (but which is silent on the particular matter), and help interpret and affect the operation of legislation to which the international text has no apparent direct relation. 

scholarly journals Evaluation of The Role and Position of Dispute Resolution Councils In Iran's Criminal Policy In Comparison with Similar Institutions In The French Judiciary

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-258
Author(s):  
Hassan Vahedi ◽  
Abdolvahid Zahedi ◽  
Firooz Mahmoudi Janaki
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Dispute Resolution ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Criminal Policy ◽  
Criminal Justice Policy ◽  
Public Institution ◽  
Effective Measure ◽  
The People ◽  
The Common

The Dispute Resolution Council was established as a public institution in the last few decades to reduce the number of cases sent to the judiciary in Iran and strengthen public participation and increase the role of the people in criminal justice policy. Although the activities of this institution in recent years have led to a decrease in the number of cases sent to judicial institutions, but its public aspect was not fulfilled as intended. In addition, the law of this council has many contradictions with the constitution with limitations and problems in the legal and structural field that have affected its functions. However, the role of the people is significant in similar institutions in the legal system of the Common Law and France, while strengthening the participatory aspect. This issue has been an effective measure in strengthening participatory criminal policy in these countries. The purpose of this research was to investigate the criminal policy of the Dispute Resolution Council and similar institutions in France.Keywords: Dispute Resolution Council, French Law, Iranian Criminal Justice Policy Evaluasi Peran dan Kedudukan Dewan Penyelesaian Sengketa Dalam Kebijakan Pidana Iran Dibandingkan dengan Institusi Serupa di Peradilan Prancis AbstrakDewan Penyelesaian Sengketa didirikan sebagai lembaga publik dalam beberapa dekade terakhir untuk mengurangi jumlah kasus yang dikirim ke peradilan di Iran dan memperkuat partisipasi publik dan meningkatkan peran masyarakat dalam kebijakan peradilan pidana. Meskipun kegiatan lembaga ini dalam beberapa tahun terakhir telah menyebabkan penurunan jumlah kasus yang dikirim ke lembaga peradilan, tetapi aspek publiknya tidak terpenuhi sebagaimana dimaksud. Selain itu, undang-undang dewan ini memiliki banyak kontradiksi dengan konstitusi dengan keterbatasan dan masalah di bidang hukum dan struktural yang mempengaruhi fungsinya. Namun, peran masyarakat cukup signifikan dalam lembaga sejenis dalam sistem hukum Common Law dan Perancis, sekaligus memperkuat aspek partisipatif. Isu ini telah menjadi langkah yang efektif dalam memperkuat kebijakan kriminal partisipatif di negara-negara tersebut. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui kebijakan kriminal dari Dispute Resolution Council dan lembaga sejenis di Perancis.Kata Kunci: Dewan Penyelesaian Sengketa, Hukum Prancis, Kebijakan Peradilan Pidana Iran Оценка роли и позиции советов по решению спорных вопросов В уголовной политике ирана по сравнению с аналогичными учреждениями во французской судебной системе  АннотацияСовет по решению спорных вопросов был создан как государственное учреждение в последние десятилетия для сокращения количества дел, передаваемых в судебные органы в Иране, и расширения участия общественности и повышения роли общественности в политике уголовного правосудия. Хотя деятельность этого учреждения в последние годы привела к уменьшению количества дел, направляемых в судебные органы, общественный аспект не выполняется должным образом. Кроме того, закон этого совета имеет много противоречий с конституцией с ограничениями и проблемами в правовой и структурной областях, которые влияют на его функционирование. Тем не менее, роль сообщества весьма значительна в аналогичных учреждениях в системе общего права и правовой системы Франции, а также в усилении аспекта участия. Этот вопрос стал эффективным шагом в укреплении совместной уголовной политики в этих странах. Целью данного исследования является определение уголовной политики Совета по разрешению спорных вопросов и аналогичных учреждений во Франции.Ключевые Слова: Совет по решению спорных вопросов, Французское право, политика в области уголовного правосудия в Иране 

Appraisal and Review

2020 ◽  
pp. 255-276
Author(s):  
Mike McConville ◽  
Luke Marsh
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Separation Of Powers ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Executive Power ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
Home Office ◽  
Final Destination ◽  
The Common ◽  
Future Direction

The concluding Chapter scrutinises the validity and relevance of the book’s hitherto unseen archival files, from which its account stems. In pulling together its main themes concerning the role of civil servants, the Executive and the Judiciary in administering criminal justice, it retraces the trajectory of suspects’ rights in the late nineteenth century, from their seemingly ‘bedrock’ foundation within the common law to their rough distillation (at home and abroad) through various iterations of Judges’ ‘Rules’, themselves of dubious pedigree. In documenting this journey, this Chapter underscores how Senior Judges, confronted by Executive power impinging upon the future direction of system protections, enfeebled themselves, allowing ‘police interests’ to prevail. With Parliament kept in the dark as to the ongoing subterfuge; and the integrity of the Home Office, as an institution, long dissolved, ‘Executive interests’ took the reins of a system within which much mileage for ‘culture change’ lay ahead. This Chapter helps chart their final destination; ultimately, one where new Rules (the CrimPR) replace those exposed as failures, leading to governmental success of a distinct kind: traditional understandings of ‘rights’ belonging to suspects and defendants subverted into ‘obligations’ owing to the Court and an adversarial process underpinning determinations of guilt long-disbanded in the quest for so-called ‘efficiency’. In explaining the implications of the events discussed in this book for the issue of ‘Judicial Independence’ and the ‘Separation of Powers’, this Chapter offers a theoretical framework that illuminates the role and practices of the Senior Judiciary in criminal justice policy today.

The Relationship between Disability Non-Discrimination Law and Quota Schemes

2019 ◽  
pp. 94-117
Author(s):  
Lisa Waddington
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Civil Law ◽  
People With Disabilities ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Common ◽  
Public And Private Sector ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter explores the relationship between disability quota schemes and non-discrimination law in Europe. While at first sight they seem to sit uneasily beside each other, the chapter reveals how, in some instances, quota schemes can serve to facilitate compliance with non-discrimination legislation. At the same time, the chapter explores seeming incompatibilities between the two approaches and considers whether there are differences between common and civil law jurisdictions in this respect. Tentative conclusions suggest that there is a greater willingness to establish quota schemes through legislation in civil law jurisdictions compared to common law jurisdictions, and that quota schemes in civil law jurisdictions are more likely to provide for the imposition of a levy in the case that employers fail to meet their quota obligations through employing the required number of people with disabilities. There also seems to be some indication that there is greater awareness of the potential for conflict or tension, in various forms, between non-discrimination law and quota schemes in common law jurisdictions than in civil law jurisdictions. Finally, the two schemes operating in the common law states are only applicable to the public sector—whilst in civil law states quotas are generally applied to both public and private sector employers. This may indicate different perceptions regarding the role of public sector employers and the legitimacy of imposing quota requirements.

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